The Bee's guide to events, activities, arts and entertainment

November 8, 2011

NASCAR, NHRA, IndyCar; Infineon Raceway's 2012 schedule includes a return of the big three American auto racing series plus a lot more.

NASCAR's Sprint Cup series will be back for the 24th year with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on June 24, the week after Father's Day. The event also features the best air show on the NASCAR circuit with the six-jet Patriots Jet Team performing during pre-race ceremonies.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the NHRA Sonoma Nationals will be part of back-to-back hot-rod weekends in late July. Infineon's dragstrip, considered among the nation's fastest, saw six track records broken during the 2011 NHRA race weekend, including speed and elapsed time marks in Funny Car by driver John Force and Pro Stock by Allen Johnson.

IndyCar comes back to Sonoma for the eighth consecutive year for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Aug. 24-26.

New next year will be the FIA World Tour Car Championship, which will make its American debut at Sonoma on Sept. 21-23. The series, televised in 59 countries, features BMW, Chevrolet, SEAT and Volvo cars competing in 30-minute heats.

"The first time I saw these cars race, I knew they belonged on our track," said raceway president Steve Page. "From the moment the green flag drops, the whole field is in a flat-out sprint for the lead. It's going to be quite a show."

Motorcycles, historic cars and clunkers also are on the diverse schedule.

Tickets for all major events go on sale Dec. 15. For more information, click on www.infineonraceway.com or call (800) 870-7223.

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